


Radiant

by octoberfeeling



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, F/M, Fluff, Gentleness Incarnate, Her power is Gentleness Embodiment, I will include more about this later, Reader is a glass artist, Reader is also one of the Avengers, Tony is a father figure, very soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 10:36:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octoberfeeling/pseuds/octoberfeeling
Summary: Reader has been overwhelmed lately by the lack of privacy at the tower, so Tony builds her a studio where she can work on her glass art. No one else knows about it until Bucky wanders down an unexplored hallway one day.





	Radiant

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends!
> 
> I know very little about the Marvel Universe so please be gentle with me. My best friend requested a Bucky x Reader fic where the reader is a glass artist and I just ran with it; I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.
> 
> For more information about the Gentleness Embodiment power: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Gentleness_Embodiment

“Listen, kid,” Tony’s gruff voice behind you makes you jump. “I know it can be pretty exhausting to be gentleness incarnate and constantly be surrounded by… well. These guys.”

You blush and tuck your chin, hating to think of how obvious it must be that you’ve been overwhelmed lately. There are just so few opportunities for personal space in the tower, and everyone seems to know  _ everything  _ about each other. You can only handle so much required extroversion at a time. You haven’t been able to keep yourself from thinking of home; of colorful glass and of cut-up fingertips, potted plants and windowlight.

“You don’t have to admit it, but I’ve noticed you zoning out during team meetings. Staring out windows, staring at  _ metal arms…” _ Your anxious eyes snap up to meet his laughing ones, but you can only keep them there for a millisecond before feeling your cheeks and ears going even redder. Thankfully, with a knowing smile lingering on his lips, he moves on. “Anyway, I remember hearing you mention that you used to do stained glass before you joined the team, so I thought you could use a private spot for you to just be, and maybe make some stuff, brighten this place up a bit.”

_ What? _

You look up at him again, this time holding his gaze and hoping he elaborates without you having to speak, so that you can avoid excitedly squeaking.

“C’mon, kid.”

Tony leads you back to a part of the tower that you didn’t even know existed. Then again, maybe it hadn’t until recently.

He nudges the door and steps to the side so that you can go in ahead of him. You can vaguely hear him saying something about making sure he loaded it up with all the best colors and tools, but it sounds fuzzy and far away. You’re completely distracted from his words by what’s in front of you: A giant, naturally-lit room with unfathomably high ceilings and a giant workspace right in the middle. Two of the four walls are completely fashioned into a shelving system which holds more glass than you’ve ever seen in one place, in more colors than you’ve ever thought you’d have access to. It’s organized into a gradient rainbow that looks like something out of a dream, and there’s a rolling ladder that’s straight out of the library in Beauty and the Beast, so that you can access all your options.

The other two walls aren’t walls at all, but floor-to-ceiling windows with late-afternoon sunlight streaming in, bathing everything in an ethereal golden light. You close your eyes for a minute and try to picture what it’ll look like once you’ve made enough pieces to cover all of that window space. The image in your head is your own personal heaven.

No one has ever done anything like this for you in your whole life, and there aren’t enough languages to say thank you to Tony enough times, but you’ll try.

“Tony, I--”

“It’s okay, kid. Don’t waste your energy thanking me.”

“ _Thank you,_ ” you say, locking eyes with him to make sure he fully feels the weight of your gratitude.

“There’s a first aid kit under the counter. I think there’s about 1,000 bandaids in there. Please don’t go through all of them too fast.”

***

After about 4 hours spent browsing the color wall, taking inventory of all the tools at your disposal, planning projects, and sketching out the first window you plan to get started on, you realize the sun has gone down and the automatic lights installed into the ceiling have tipped on. A wave of exhaustion hits you as you look out the wall of windows at the starry sky, and you decide you had better head to bed before you lose yourself in a project that you just  _ know _ would keep you from sleeping.

You walk back down your new private hallway toward your bedroom, humming the sweet, mellow tune of a song you fell in love with recently - Ireland by Liza Anne. You’re so lost in thoughts about all the windows you’ll make in this brand new workspace that you don’t notice the socked feet walking in your direction until you’re practically face-to-chest with the owner of those socked feet.

“Evenin’, doll.” Bucky’s warm, lilting voice sounds sleepy and happy and sends a shiver from your neck to your fingertips. You look up to see his deep blue eyes scanning your face quizzically, but he doesn’t ask whatever he’s wondering. You feel the corners of your mouth stretch into an all-too-obviously tender smile, before realizing you’ve been staring for an obscene amount of time and snapping your eyes back to the floor.

All you can muster is a hummed response before you both continue in the directions you were headed before. 

You reach your room, change into more appropriate clothes for sleeping, pull back the covers and crawl in. But sleep doesn’t come as quickly as you had expected it to. Before drifting off, you think about Bucky’s curious smirk in the hallway and wonder why this already-quiet man always seems to say even fewer words around you.

That night, you are ensconced in a detailed dream about the first window you want to create: Waves of silvery grey, with a small red star glinting in the sun in the top left corner.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! This work is self-betaed, so any and all mistakes are fully my own. If you enjoyed it, leave kudos and perhaps a comment? And if you REALLY liked it, feel free to donate to my Ko-fi so that I can pay rent this month! Here's that link: ko-fi.com/emmajoy
> 
> Thank you again for reading, I so appreciate you!!!!!! <3


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